


Until next we meet

by Tasebi



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: All this to say goodbye, Chrystal Tower G'raha Tia, Fix-It, M/M, Miqo'te Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Named Warrior of light, No pairing - Freeform, SLIGHT 5.0 spoilers, So we're talking 2.x someplace, but I'm throwing it out there anyway, but plenty of pining, but some things cant change, fixed point in time, like super slight, proper like, slightly canon divergent, sorry - Freeform, we're talking if you've seen the trailer, you've seen the spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26262523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tasebi/pseuds/Tasebi
Summary: Request: I have a FFXIV short request! Please, please, please write me a fix-it fic. G'raha and the WOL need to have a private, personal goodbye at the top of the tower, before he seals it. And they NEED to have a warm, wordless, nearly crushing hug to say goodbye. If you could use my WOL that would be awesome. If not, a generic WOL would work as well. Thank you in advance!A/N: Rath the Miqo’te belongs to jennacat it was my pleasure to steal him for this fic. She also learned the horrible thing it is to ask me to write something using your OC as I bombarded her with questions throughout the day. Also, some of the initial dialogue is taken directly out of the cut scene. I’m a terrible plagiarist
Kudos: 3





	Until next we meet

The news G’raha ordered all of NOAH out of the tower has a small group running for the doors of the Crystal Tower. 

“Go no further, my friends! The doors will close ‘ere long.” 

They all watch as G’raha walks towards the entrance with the step of a man secure in the knowledge of his place in the world. 

“So you are of a mind to seal the tower, G’raha,” Rammbroes calls. 

“I am. It is,” he pauses and smiles a wan smile before looking up again, “for the best. For now.”

“Nothing we can say will change your mind, will it?” Cid asks. G’raha shakes his head, the same small smile on his face.

Rather than taking the fight out of the group’s sails, the silent declaration seems to inspire them to fight harder. Each makes a promise to G’raha that they will not only see him again, they will do so sooner than he thinks. 

G’raha turns to the Warrior of Light. “And you, Rath - I know I will remember you. No doubt your heroism will be the star by which I chart my course when I awake. Farewell, my friends. I eagerly await a future born of your courage and the ancients’ wish.” 

G’raha turns and starts to walk away but before the doors could close, Rath walks through them. His ears and the tip of his leonine tail flicking with uncertainty. 

“Rath! No!” Biggs and Wedge call out in alarm.

The Dragoon looks over his shoulder and smiles. “Go on back to camp. I’ll meet you there.” 

The group pauses only long enough to see G’raha turn in surprise before each of them wave and return to the camp at the base of the tower. 

“Why?” The twitching of Rath’s ears was the only indication that the softly whispered question reached him. 

Luminescent lilac eyes met crimson red ones. “Because this is not how friends say goodbye, G’raha.” 

He chuckles softly, waiting for Rath to step to his side. As one, the two turn toward the stone staircases leading to the top of the tower. 

“Did you hear nothing I said?” G’raha jibes. “This is not goodbye. Consider it more “until next we meet”.” 

The two start up the steps, the sound of their boots on stone echoing in the cavernous space. Rath nods and looks ahead, his ears flicking. “Aye, I heard your words. So too did I hear the emotion beneath them.” 

G’raha’s steps falter. Rath pauses in his ascent, waiting patiently. No matter how he tries, G’raha can’t meet the other Miqo’te’s eyes. 

“In the end, undone by emotion I could not school out of my voice.” he sighs. 

A soft chuckle has G’raha looking up, ears turned toward the sound. Rath stands, hand outstretched, reaching back toward him. 

“I will not keep you from your destiny, my friend,” Rath’s eyes soften and G’raha thinks he catches a hint of something deeper there. “Nor will you face it alone.” 

G’raha’s ears relax and a smile plays at his lips as he reaches forward, accepting the hand held out to him. The two continue their journey. 

Stone gives way to crystal and gold. The light shining through the walls of the tower cast broken beams of diffused light, bathing their surroundings in an ethereal glow. Along their way, the glowing Allagan lamps built into the staircase add to the feeling of otherworldliness. Sounds of movement somewhere deep in the castle echo in the air. To those of a more morbid bent, they seem like the cries of the dead. 

“What do you think the world will be like when I wake up?” G’raha whispers as the two continue their climb. 

“I’ve haven’t the foggiest,” Rath replies blandly, making G’raha laugh. There’s a gentle squeeze on Rath’s fingers and he realizes they are still holding hands. 

“Surely you have a hope, a dream?” G’raha prods. 

“Aye,” Rath nods, returning the gentle squeeze. “But if I’ve learned anything, it’s that the faces and dynasties change, but the hearts of men rarely do.”

G’raha smiles, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “Ever the pragmatist. Here you are, walking beside me, all the while insisting the hearts of men will never change. And yet, you don’t stop fighting, you don’t stop working for the betterment of those you feel would waste the gift you work so hard to grant them.” 

Rath’s ears tilt down as he smiles ruefully. “There is nothing wrong with hope.”

It was G’raha’s turn to laugh. “Indeed. We face the realities, do what we can and hope, in some small way, our actions make a difference.” 

As they reach the next landing, Rath looks around. “Where are we going anyway?” 

G’raha looks around and points to a set of doors across the landing. “There I think.” 

Rath quirks a brow. “You think?”

The other Miqo’te shrugs. “It’s not like I’ve inspected the place. I’ve got little more than instinct guiding me at this point.”

At his touch, the doors soundlessly swing wide granting them both entrance. When he steps across the threshold, the room comes alive. Great charts seemingly constructed of stars - or mapping them - float in mid-air. Three short stairs lead up to a flat, polished crystal that seems to pulse with a heartbeat that lights the room with its glow. 

Rath and G'raha ascend the stairs and G'raha touches the flat surface. That ghost of a touch, little more than a whisper made the crystal flare bright in answer. The NOAH camp bustling with life, all the researchers scurrying about, no doubt digging into the readings they took while in the tower reflected in the crystal's surface.

For a moment G'raha's arm hung suspended in midair reaching towards those he was leaving behind. No sooner had a shudder racked his body then he was pulled into a tight embrace. G'raha attempted to return the hug but found the dragoon's armor thwarting him at every turn. 

"Your bloody armor makes it blessedly difficult to hug you properly." he groused. 

Rath quietly watches the image flicker, fade, and disappear. Only when the crystal pulses with the same heartbeat - G’raha’s heartbeat he knew now - does he loosen his hold a bit. 

“It’s so the dragons don’t eat me.” Rath chuckles. “If you want to return the hug, you will find a way.” 

G’raha’s only reply was to slide his arms around the only safe place in the armor - the waist - and squeeze. The hug was vicelike in its strength forcing a soft “oof” from the dragoon. 

“You asked for it.” he murmured into Rath’s shoulder, refusing to lift his head.

“Scared?” Rath whispers, wrapping G’raha tighter.

“Terrified.” The answer came out a shaky huff. 

Rath presses his cheek against the crown of G’raha’s head. “Second thoughts?” 

“None.” The answer was firm, determined. “This is what must be done.” 

“That’s all it takes to be a Warrior of Light you know.” Rath murmured. “Feel the fear. Do it anyway.”

“Yea, but I don’t get to go on the grand adventures you do, nor do I have wonderful stories to tell when I return.” 

“Then dream them up. Dream of them and when you return to us, I promise to listen with rapt attention to every one of them until you and I can travel together and make them all come true.” 

G’raha squeezed just a bit tighter for a brief moment before releasing his hold. “You promise?” 

Rath mirrored the tight squeeze and release before whispering, “Every word.” 

G’raha looks around and his shoulders slump. “Who knows how long I’ll be asleep and without so much as the cot I had back at camp. I swear I’ll never complain about the lack of comforts again.” 

At his words, crystal seemed to melt back from the room, revealing an alcove with a small bed inside. 

“The tower provides for its new master.” 

G’raha shakes his head and chuckles. “It’s as you say.” His crimson eyes met lilac once again. “Will you go now?”

Rath shakes his head. “I will stay until sleep finds you.” 

“My dearest friend, I cannot promise your safety.” 

Rath snorts derisively as they walk to the waiting sleeping chamber. “When has my safety ever been a concern? I’m the one who cleared the tower, remember?”

“Would that I could have been by your side every step of the way.” G’raha murmurs sliding into the waiting bed. 

“You will be when you wake.” G’raha’s ears twitch at the dragoon’s whispered promise and he settles himself. Rath pulls a blanket from his armiger and drapes it over G’raha. “A poor substitute for me personally protecting your slumber, to be sure. I will expect this back, you understand.” 

G’raha smiles. “I’ll be certain to return it in the same shape it was lent to me.” 

“It’s a promise then.” Rath returns the smile, albeit weakly. “Rest now. The sooner you begin, the sooner you can return to us.” 

Dutifully, G’raha closes his eyes. It isn’t long before his breathing evens out and the heartbeat echoed in the tower slows. 

As Rath presses his forehead against G’raha’s, a tear slips down his cheek and onto the sleeping Miqo’te’s. 

“Sleep well, my love,” he whispers. 

A rumbling sound comes from somewhere near the tower’s base and Rath knows the doors have shut and sealed. Reluctantly, he rises from his spot and steps back. He squares his shoulders and reaches for the aetherite in Mor Dhona. As the teleportation spell weaves itself around him, Rath makes one more promise. Since G’raha left the world in his care, Rath was going to make damn certain it was something worth waking up to. 

In the highest spire of a Crystal Tower, locked away safe in slumber, G’raha Tia smiles. 


End file.
